Firefight at Baghdad airport - Tunnel to Tigris River found

Reuters | April 3, 2003

[HAL9000]

NEAR BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces advancing on Baghdad are fighting Iraqis dug in at the capital's main airport on Thursday evening.

Reuters correspondent Luke Baker, 33 km (21 miles) south west of the capital with the engineer units of the 3rd Infantry Division, said military sources told him on Thursday a 3rd Infantry task force was fighting Iraqis dug in to defend the airport.

No further information was immediately available on the progress of the battle, but sources said U.S. forces had discovered some sort of tunnel system under the airport and one tunnel led all the way back to the Tigris river.

Baghdad's Saddam International Airport is about 20 km (12 miles) southwest of the centre of the sprawling city of five million. Sporadic U.S. artillery and rocket fire had been launched towards Baghdad since darkness fel

[gov_bean_ counter]

Light it up.

[NautiNurse]

Wow--that ties up with the story from the designer of the bunker system.

[mlbford2]

There are 1000s of tunnels under Baghdad. I mean how old is this city? Something like 3000yrs old. Those Iraqis are like damn gophers. Weapons inspectors had no chance of finding anything.

[b4its2late]

Do what the Iraqis would do. Flood it with petrol and throw in a match......

[jnarcus]

Embedded reporter says that the airport has been taken...if not now it certain;y will be soon...the tunnels are what will prove to be most interesting Can you spell WMD?

[Shermy]

But is the Cinnabon operating???

[riri]

hat ties up with the story from the designer of the bunker system

I missed that story. What did he say re: this tunnel(s)?

[hawkaw]

Yes it was an ABC embedded reporter who reported right on the tarmac that the airport had been taken.

hawk

[Crapgame]

The Cinnabon is closed but there is a special at the Burger King on Iraqi Chicken Sandwiches...

Crapgame

[1Old Pro]

No further information was immediately available on the progress of the battle

Here, let me help: IT'S OVER.

[NautiNurse]

He said there were two tunnels from the big, thick Saddam bunker that went to the Tigris River.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Saddam's defecting bodyguard Mahmoud has revealed as much.

They are weasels and badgers underground. We will find the same phenomenon when we take out Kim Jong il.

And we knew as much.

That is why some talking heads are dancing their victory dances and wondering, "Wow! This is great! All the way into the outskirts of Baghdad and no major fighting, everyone's gone, and no chems or bios!" When the fact is, much of the action might be happening right below them. One hopes our guys are really careful; they are on a powderkeg.

"Saddam has maintained an underground chemical weapons facility at the southern end of the Jadray Peninsula in Baghdad; an assembly area near Ramadi for SCUD missiles imported from North Korea; and two underground bunkers in Iraq's Western Desert that contain biological weapons; and other weapons of mass destruction are concealed in a tunnel complex built by Chinese engineers beneath Baghdad's sewer system. "

[GLDNGUN]

HANS BLIX: "Tunnels? They have tunnels? Who knew?!"

[Blue Screen of Death]

Embedded reporter says that the airport has been taken

Oh great! Now the Federal Airport Transportation Screeners union is going to claim rights on screening at Baghdad airport. They probably will try to take the rifles away from the Marines passing through the gates. At any rate they will slow things down. We are screwed now.

[billhilly]

"But is the Cinnabon operating???"

Back to class for you young man. We'll have no more of that!

[sine_nomine]

The inspectors had no chance of finding anything when they gave 24 hour warnings of their surprise visits!

Blix could not lead 6 drunks to a urinal at Hooters.

[UCFRoadWarrior]

I say divert some of the water from the Tigris or Euphrates and flood the sucker. Tunnels under water are totally useless.

Its like a big toilet...flushing all the s*** out of Baghdad

[tiki]

Is that why the lights are off in Baghdad and Najef? Are our troops going to find no-one home when the lights come back on?

[headsonpikes]

ROTFLMAO!!! "Who knew?", indeed! LOL!